


The Landscape of Tomorrow (Ashita no Keshiki)

by MidoriKurenaiYume



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Dialogue, Domestic Fluff, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fluff, Lies, Multiple Relationships, Secret Relationship, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-06 12:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14056806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriKurenaiYume/pseuds/MidoriKurenaiYume
Summary: Two CEOs became acquainted because of work and developed a mutual interest in each other. But then she abruptly cut off most contact and married someone else, offering only half-truths as explanation, not realizing the mistake she was making.





	1. We are born alone, but can't live alone

**Author's Note:**

> Short story, not to be taken too seriously, inspired by a conversation I had with my friend Christy about Romeo and Juliet. It's likely to be a bit confusing at the beginning.  
> Only warning is that Emiya Archer is probably 'younger' than he is in canon, less cynical and less mature, but certainly more mature than Shirou (:P).
> 
> Title: from a Kalafina song, part of the album 'Seventh Heaven'. The chapters' titles are lyrics from the song, translated by the canta-per-me forum ;)

…

…

…

The intercom buzzed, informing Gilgamesh of the fact that the people he was supposed to meet had just arrived. He didn’t bother with standing, but he did glance up once the door opened.

Arturia Pendragon, head of the company Gilgamesh was affiliated with, entered the room followed by her husband. Visibly pregnant, she took a seat at his wordless invitation, already taking out the files from the folder she was holding, apparently preparing to discuss a new deal.

Archer, her husband, didn’t sit, instead greeting Gilgamesh briefly before excusing himself to go speak with possible investors. He was not involved in Arturia’s company, as he was working hard to gain recognition on his own. With a short, distracted nod towards his wife, he left.

As soon as he was gone, Gilgamesh stood up and went to close the door, unhurriedly locking it. He then turned around to face Arturia.

“He doesn’t deserve you,” he said plainly. “His behaviour makes it obvious. He may respect you, but he doesn’t truly care about you, nor does he care about the child, about becoming a _father_. And everyone knows he is a womanizer, which is something you surely know as well.”

She glanced sharply at him, putting down the documents.

After a moment of silence, she replied evenly, “Much like you are.”

But he was unfazed and merely smirked widely.

“Not after meeting _you_ , Arturia. And that was, oh, about six years ago now?”

She did not offer an answer this time, choosing to ignore his words. He took a few steps closer to her, staring at her intently, and then his eyes lowered to her belly.

“Can I touch it?” he suddenly asked, an odd mix of curiosity and wonder in his tone.

She contemplated him for a long moment, before nodding slowly, her face showing some wariness and reluctance.

“Very well.”

Gilgamesh’s hands went to rest on the rounded shape of her abdomen as he kneeled down to reach it better. There were clothes separating his fingers from her skin of course, but Arturia felt herself stiffen nonetheless.

As if on cue, in that moment her six-and-a-half pregnant belly bulged slightly, the baby inside deciding it was time to be active and give a few experimental kicks. Gilgamesh’s crimson eyes were fixated on its movements, completely focused, his expression unreadable.

In order to break the tension, Arturia cleared her throat.

“It’s probably going to be a girl,” she offered cautiously, deciding it was a piece of information she could reveal, her expression concealing her feelings well but not completely managing to hide her circumspection.

Gilgamesh’s lips tilted slightly upwards, but the small smile was gone immediately. His gaze slowly travelled over her body, going upwards until he met her green eyes.

“I imagine you found that out when you went to the gynaecologist, and I am rather certain that you went alone… your _husband_ did not come with you.”

She didn’t deny it, but simply held his gaze firmly.

Gilgamesh’s hands reluctantly left her belly and he stood up again. He seemed to want to lean forward to touch her cheek, but then changed his mind mid-action, straightening and letting his arm fall back to his side.

Suddenly a nonchalant smirk curved his lips.

“Does he even know that the child isn’t his?”

Arturia incinerated him with a glare.

…

…

…


	2. Do we want comfort?

…

…

…

A FEW YEARS BEFORE

…

…

… 

He didn’t know how _exactly_ it had started, but he did know what the facts were.

They had met when she had contacted him, as CEO, to cautiously suggest a deal between their companies. He had not needed much time to decide after agreeing to meet her: he had immediately known that she wasn’t the deceiving type and that working with her could indeed prove beneficial.

That had however been only his initial impression. As they met more and more often during the following few years, with their partnership soon becoming smoother and more relaxed, he couldn’t help finding himself intrigued by her.

It was more than that though: it developed so rapidly that he had had no choice but to come to call it _attraction_. Strong, unusual, _distracting_ attraction.

By observing her so intently, he believed he sometimes saw glimpses through her mask of composure, hints of something that made him deduce that the attraction probably wasn’t one-sided.

He had confirmation of it after a deal they hadn’t managed to conclude before their competitors had snatched it from them. Both had been angry, but she had taken it especially hard, considering it a personal failure because she had been the one to suggest it in the first place. It was uncommon for him to try to raise anyone’s morale in any way, but he had bluntly told her that she wasn’t the one responsible, because they had both misjudged the situation and made the wrong decision in the end.

Neither talked about it later, therefore they did not know how exactly it had happened, nor what had caused it. For some reason, his words to her, spoken in his office, had made them end up lying down on one of his couches, kissing fiercely, their clothes being rapidly removed.

During the following days, they discussed new possible investments they could make, carefully avoiding mentioning what had happened between them. When, just a week later, they managed to conclude a far stronger deal than the one they had failed to secure, Arturia kissed Gilgamesh again. They were in her office this time, but she had a comfortable couch as well.

When they met again to talk about new deals, he ended the meeting by kissing her passionately in his office. This time he didn’t allow them to remain there though; he had a small, private room next to it, where he sometimes slept when he didn’t feel like leaving his workplace. Even though he had never let anyone else in there except his best friend Enkidu, he didn’t consider his actions capable of breaking any kind of taboo when he pulled her inside.

As months went by without them ever defining what kind of odd relationship they had, Gilgamesh found that he did not feel the need to do so. As long as they both enjoyed it, he was more than satisfied to keep learning her and allow her to learn him too.

It was only a full year later that he decided to refuse to let her leave his arms after their latest intense evening together, making her spend the night with him. He did not say a word about it though, and noticed Arturia studying him carefully a few times when she got dressed the following morning.

The next time it happened, she prevented him from requesting her to stay the night by telling him that she was planning to start dating a family friend her father had recommended. She spoke well of this man, Archer, adding that she was considering her options for marriage as well.

Gilgamesh decided not to offer a reply, only observing her calm honesty when she told him positive things about her possible future husband. He didn’t believe for a second that she was serious about wanting to date this man, therefore he didn’t comment.

He only felt a slight doubt when she told him she did not intend to sleep with him again, yet dismissed that worrisome thought swiftly.

She remained however true to her word. While she still came to his office to discuss deals with him as his business partner, she immediately left afterwards, never lingering for even a second and pointedly avoiding his gaze when he attempted to read her mind. She knew that he could almost always understand her if she let him meet her eyes, therefore she smartly didn’t give him that opportunity.

From other sources he had, he then heard that she was indeed dating Archer. At first he didn’t give much credit to such rumours, but he was forced to reconsider when, just a few weeks later, he was informed of their swift, quiet wedding.

It appeared that he had underestimated her seriousness in pursuing her new relationship.

Unsurprisingly, she did not come by his office for a while, sending representatives in her stead to exchange documents; but as they were indeed business partners, they couldn’t avoid a confrontation of some kind forever.

In many ways, this vexed him. It was true that he had had a strange relationship with Arturia, but whatever it had been, it was now gone, without him having been able to have a say in it. He knew very well that, even though he didn’t know what she felt for her husband – he was fairly certain it couldn’t be love, but he was forced to admit that he couldn’t be sure – she wasn’t one who would ever cheat, not even verbally.

When they finally met, he was quite rigid in telling her that he wasn’t going to congratulate her on her nuptials, and she was equally rigid in telling him that she didn’t expect him to. After a short but tense silence, he commented on the short notice of the wedding; she took him aback when she evenly replied that it was because she was pregnant.

At hearing that piece of news, he couldn’t hold back his surprise. It seemed that just a few days after ending her liaison with him, she had already taken another man to her bed.

She ignored his biting words as he expressed his thoughts in that sense, and explained that she and Archer got along well and that he had felt it his duty to propose when he had found out that she was expecting.

Gilgamesh’s face betrayed no reaction; she wryly remarked that he was likely still negatively considering the quickness with which she had changed bed partners. She went on adding that he could think as ill of her as he wanted, but he could not make her leave until she finished talking, and she had still something to confess.

Even though she was now _married_ to Archer, she couldn’t conceal the truth from Gilgamesh: the child in her womb _wasn’t_ Archer’s.

She stood up before he could recover from the shock, and firmly told him that even though she was pregnant with Gilgamesh’s child, neither of them was going to do anything about it.

Briefly informing him that she was going to have the completed draft of their new deal delivered to him within a couple of days, she walked out of his office without looking back.

…

…

…


	3. The last sign leading to tomorrow

…

…

…

PRESENT

…

…

…

Arturia fiercely glared at him. She hadn’t come to his office for over three months, not ever since she had told him about her pregnancy.

“I’m not here to talk about my husband… Or rather, not in a way that relates to him directly,” she replied coldly.

Gilgamesh’s expression was slightly condescending.

“Don’t pretend you’re here to talk about business, Arturia. We both know that the files you’re holding regard a deal we already concluded two days ago.”

She held back an almost imperceptible sigh, but the look she gave him was measured.

“That’s correct,” she conceded. “And very well. To answer your question, he doesn’t know. Yet even if I told him, I doubt he would believe me.”

Gilgamesh didn’t need to ponder over her words before pure disdain appeared on his features.

“How foolish can he even be–”

Arturia’s real sigh interrupted him, and she brought her hands up to rub her temples.

“I’m here to tell you that I’m going to file for divorce,” she bluntly declared. “I have the papers already filled out, to be delivered to him and to the attorneys later today.”

Gilgamesh’s eyebrows rose while his crimson eyes widened in an open display of surprise, but before he could collect himself enough to utter anything in reply, she went on, “I should never have married him in the first place, for I have always known that a union can’t work without honesty and trust.”

She closed her eyes briefly. “He’s not a bad person. If he cared about me, perhaps he would behave differently – but since he doesn’t actually care about me, he isn’t loyal, and therefore he is untrustworthy.”

“You mean he’s cheating on you,” Gilgamesh supplied, paying absolutely no heed to her chilling glance. “So he isn’t just a mongrel, he’s also a _cheating_ one. Are you–”

“That’s not the reason why I’m asking for a divorce,” she interrupted him again. “Not entirely, at least. I’ve always known about his having had many lovers, and I even know that he is now especially fond of one woman in particular. I have more than one reason to suspect he isn’t faithful, but I have no proof, and therefore I’m not using that as ground for a divorce.” She pursed her lips briefly, seemingly steeling herself. “I will divorce him because of non-consummation.”

At that, Gilgamesh’s eyes sharpened on her and then narrowed, his expression becoming alert.

“Is this true?”

She wasn’t really surprised by his incredulity, and simply nodded.

“I’ve never been his wife in that sense.”

Gilgamesh’s eyes narrowed even more.

“If you never let him touch you,” his tone revealed that he was barely controlling himself, “then how can he believe the child is his?” He then added, after a short pause, “Although now that I think about it, this would explain why you are so certain that he isn’t the father.”

Her hands busied themselves by starting to put the documents back into the folders.

“When he came over one evening,” she began slowly, “he tried the wine you had sent me as a present a few days before.”

Although a brief shadow crossed his face, Gilgamesh unexpectedly nodded with something close to approval.

“Even though it was a present meant for _you_ , that’s indeed worthy wine. At least his taste in drinks doesn’t seem to be entirely disgraceful.”

Slight irritation appeared on Arturia’s face as she flatly said, not looking at him, “He passed out after two glasses.”

Gilgamesh could only stare at her incredulously as she continued, straight-faced, “He started to take his clothes off after the first glass and passed out on the couch, next to me, after trying to kiss me.” She closed her eyes again, briefly, heaving yet another sigh. “He believed he had had drunken sex with me, and was very ashamed of himself. He apologized most contritely the next day.”

She paused for a second, still keeping her eyes away from him, then added, “He didn’t let me talk as I attempted to explain that nothing had happened, he kept thinking I was solely trying to reassure him. And two months later, when he heard I was pregnant, he was completely certain of the fact that it was his doing, therefore brought forth documents for a quick marriage, to ‘make things right’, as he said. At least I had enough sense to insist on a prenuptials agreement, which means that the divorce is going to be equally swift.”

She looked angry, but Gilgamesh could see that her ire was directed at herself as she admitted, “I genuinely don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to marry him. It’s true that I didn’t know of his womanizing ways and I believed he could do as a husband – provided of course he didn’t interfere with my work, which he readily promised not to do. I have no sound justification though, especially since I knew from the start that I was going to build the marriage on a lie. Perhaps… perhaps I harboured the highly misguided hope that it would keep me away from you.”

Gilgamesh’s face was now blank, no emotion visible. After a short silence, he finally spoke, his tone slightly aloof.

“It partially worked, didn’t it?”

There was a heavy pause.

“Only physically,” she finally answered, staring straight at him.

Her admission was followed by a longer pause, but she then broke the silence, averting her gaze at the same moment.

“To make things clear, I’m not interested in getting married again.” Her green eyes were back on him. “You will be able to see your daughter whenever you want,” she specified, “but that’s all it’s going to be.”

Something flashed through Gilgamesh’s crimson eyes at that, and he came closer to her. His hand this time did reach for her cheek, not allowing her to stop him, and caressed her skin slowly.

“Arturia.” He pronounced her name deliberately. “You can sometimes be rather exasperating.”

He sighed then. “I am not going to accept such terms,” he told her plainly. “Only because you were – or still _are_ – married to a mongrel who doesn’t appreciate you, it doesn’t mean that that’s always the case with marriages.”

He chuckled at her expression. “I will be a father to my daughter whether we are married or not,” he clarified, his words being both a promise and a warning, making it clear that he was not going to allow her to shut him out of her own life, not just their baby’s.

He continued, imperturbable, his tone confident, “But sooner or later we _will_ get married.” A slow smirk appeared on his lips. “It’s not merely to make sure our child has a family, it’s to make sure you are part of my life as I will be part of yours. And since marriage is the best acceptable way in the eyes of society for us to live together, then marriage it shall be.”

“That’s not acceptable for _me_ ,” Arturia cut him off, her tone harsh. “I’m quite fine with the experience I’ve had so far with marriage, I don’t plan on repeating the same mistake.”

A flash of anger crossed Gilgamesh’s features.

“When you married Archer yet told me the baby wasn’t his, do you know the reason why I didn’t intervene?” he suddenly asked her, coldness in his expression as he regarded her strangely.

She only had the time to shake her head once before he went on, his fury showing in his tone, “Because I believed you knew what you were doing. It was obvious that you had no feelings for him, you knew the child wasn’t his but you still wanted to marry him _by choice_ , not because you had to. _You_ chose it; I thought you wanted it, even though it was something I considered ridiculous as it was going to be a marriage of convenience.” He seemed to bring his temper under control, as his voice sounded normal again. “Don’t be mistaken though: I’ve wanted to marry you long before you became pregnant.”

“You didn’t want it enough to propose marriage though,” she pointed out, inclining her head to the side as she stood up. “I have no way of knowing whether or not you’re telling the truth about it. We were…” she didn’t exactly hesitate, but she did have trouble in finding a word to define what they were, “…involved…” yes, that was accurate enough, “…for over a year, yet you never gave any indication that there was more to it than anything strictly physical.” Her eyes regarded him defiantly. “You will excuse me if I don’t believe your sudden declarations of affection.”

Instead of becoming furious again, Gilgamesh smirked slightly.

“‘Sudden’, you say?” His tone was odd. “You truly don’t believe that I’ve been in love with you for years? That there is no one else I want?”

“No, I don’t believe it,” she replied, trying to keep her tone calm, but not completely managing to suppress a slight tremor in it. “And as I said, I don’t want a new marriage.”

He seemed unfazed by her harsh words and took a step closer.

“It’s not going to be new marriage. It’s going to be a _real_ marriage,” he stated firmly. His hand was back on her cheek, uncaring of her wary expression. “I believe you have a very distorted view of it – not that you can be blamed for it.”

His other hand went to her waist, slowly caressing her swollen belly. “It’s rather simple. It involves us living in the same house, being able to talk on a daily basis on matters not solely related to work and later taking care of our daughter. That is mostly it. On anything else… you don’t have to relinquish control. Especially not on your company, you know that, as I wouldn’t want you to suddenly barge into mine either.”

His arm around her waist pulled her suddenly closer. “I want _you_ , not your job. And you _know_ that.”

…

…

…


	4. Let's start from here

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…

…

A FEW YEARS LATER

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…

…

“Gilgamesh, did _you_ give our daughter our marriage certificate!?”

Arturia was glaring daggers at her husband, who was leisurely lying down on the couch, a couple of files and a phone in hand while their baby son was crawling over his legs, not quite able to walk yet.

“Oh, she did find it? Admirable.” He smirked, sitting up in a fluid motion while being careful in making sure the little boy did not fall to the floor. “I didn’t expect her to solve the clues so quickly.”

Arturia’s eyes narrowed.

“You made it into a _treasure hunt–_ _?_ ”

“Arturia, she has the _right_ to know,” he stressed, trying to sound reasonable, as it wasn’t the first time they were discussing this.

“She does, but not today,” she hissed at him, before her expression suddenly changed, a small smirk appearing on her lips. “However, since you admitted to being responsible for this, _you_ will now have to find a way to send her to sleep.”

Arturia picked up the baby boy, who yawned, having exhausted himself throughout his mission of crawling all over his father.

“Don’t be late,” she admonished him over her shoulder as she made to bring their son to his bedroom. “We have agreed to be at the restaurant at eight.”

Before she could leave the room, Gilgamesh caught her wrist, pulling her briefly to him in order to press a kiss to her cheek. He was careful with the baby she was holding, but did not stop himself from caressing Arturia down her arm tenderly. To his surprise, she actually turned her head slightly in order to meet his lips – even though it was only for a second.

“We’re going to be late,” she reminded him, although her voice was gentle now. “And you still have a daughter to send to bed.”

He reluctantly released her and, as she prepared her son for bed, Arturia could hear him undertake the task of explaining to their daughter why the date on the marriage certificate was just one day after her birth. She couldn’t help smiling slightly to herself.

A short while later, she was putting on her coat and finding him already waiting for her at the entrance. Enkidu had just arrived and was going upstairs, having agreed to keep an eye on the children for them. Gilgamesh gave her a calculating look.

“You seem quite eager to meet your ex-husband for dinner,” he remarked, his tone holding just a hint of grumpiness, and Arturia could not suppress a grin.

“Again with this complaint,” she sighed patiently. “Perhaps I should have told you that it’s not just a dinner to catch up for ‘old times’ sake’. He wants to introduce us to his fiancée, Rin Tohsaka.”

Gilgamesh’s eyes took a more animated look.

“The heir of the Tohsaka empire? Daughter of the current CEO Tokiomi?” At Arturia’s nod, he didn’t even bother to hide his satisfied smirk. “Her pathetic mongrel of a father is going to throw a fit when he hears about this. This might turn out to be entertaining after all.”

“Not to mention, profitable for you as well,” Arturia commented wryly, knowing he was going to enjoy this development and take advantage of Tokiomi’s distraction at the same time. “I see you’re no longer against meeting them for dinner.”

“As long as it’s just one dinner, I suppose it can be acceptable,” he allowed, grabbing her hand as they left the house.

He then gave her a small smile before pressing another kiss to the corner of her mouth. “After all, the rest of the night I will be only with _you_.”

 

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End file.
